Thursday, December 11, 2008

Coping in Hard Times

I'm sure this placement was intentional, but you have to be alert to notice. On page one of today's Wall Street Journal, you find the beginning of a story about how rich people are jettisoning their nannies. Follow it over to the jump on page A25 and you find it side by side with a story about how foreign remittances--money sent home by immigrants--are holding up remarkably well.

In the nanny story, we learn about Suzanne Siroff; she laid off a nanny who (as the Journal says) "was here when [Mrs. Siroff] suffered a about of depression and when she went on spa trips or outings to get Botox and Juvéderm injections." The kids took it badly, the Journal says, and Mrs. Siroff says she feels "horrible." But, she adds, "nothing deters me from my Botox treatments."

That's in column six. Over in column one, we learn about Miguel Flores, a Los Angeles house painter whose work has fallen off in the construction slowdown. Although he has less money coming in, he still sends $250 a month to his mother in El Salvador. "Times are tough," he says, "but I will keep helping my mother."

Query, does Mrs. Siroff's former nanny send remittances? And while I think of it, does Mr. Flores' mother get Botox?

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